Loom harness



Dec. 24, 1968 c. F. KRAMER 3,417,788

LOOM HARNESS Filed March 24, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CHARLES I. KRAMER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,417,788 LOOM HARNESS Charles F. Kramer, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Steel Heddle Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 625,659 8 Claims. (Cl. 139-92) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Attachments for the top and bottom rails of heddle frames for the adjustable connection of the heddle supporting rods and the protection of the rails against abra- SlOl'l.

Background of the invention Field of the inventi0n.This invention relates to loom harness and more particularly to attachments for the top and bottom rails of the harness frame of a weaving loom for the connection of the heddle supporting rods and for the protection of the rails.

Description of the prior art.It has heretofore been proposed to provide supports intermediate their ends for the top and bottom heddle rods, these supports being of various types including fixed supports, adjustable supports and resilient supports. In the Wooden rails previously employed there was usually sufiicient thickness of the rail to permit openings for bolts and the like.

With metallic rails formed as extrusions, these are in some instances too thin to permit of penetrating the rail without unduly weakening it.

It has also been proposed as in the US patent to John I. Kaufmann, No. 3,251,383 to provide so called nose guides extending beyond the rails to aid in the separation of the harness frames during shedding, this being particularly advantageous with metallic rails.

Summary of the invention It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an attachment for the top and bottom rails of heddle frames of weaving looms of a material which reduces the tendency of the rails to abrade, which is disposed in encircling relation to the rail and which can be positioned at any desired location along the rail and which is retained in that position against movement along the rail, and which can be employed for retaining the heddle rod intermediate its ends with respect to its associated rail.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an attachment for the rails of heddle frames of weaving looms and in which the attachment may have a solid or a split top as desired.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an attachment for the rails of heddle frames of weaving looms which is disposed in encircling relation to the rail and which in one embodiment can be vertically adjusted with respect to the rail to properly position the heddle supporting rod.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an attachment for the rails of heddle frames of weaving looms which is disposed in encircling relation to the rail and which may be fixedly positioned longitudinally of the rail.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims.

Brief description of the drawings The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which:

3,417,788 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a heddle frame embodying the main features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken approximately on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken approximately on the line 33 of FIG. 2

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top plan of a plurality of harness frames similar to FIG. 1 ShOWing one arrangement for the attachment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing another preferred form of attachment in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken approximately on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing a different mode of attachment of the heddle rod;

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken approximately on the line 88 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a closed outer end construction.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes can be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, a heddle frame 10 is shown of well known construction comprising top and bottom rails 11 and side struts 12 connecting the ends of the rails 11 and maintaining them in spaced parallel relation. The side struts 12 can be held in'engagement by screws (not shown).

The rails 11 are advantageously made of light weight metal alloys, such as those of aluminum or magnesium, with opposite parallel side faces 14 and opposite inner and outer faces 15 and 16.

The heddle frame 10 is shown as having mounted thereon upper and lower heddle supporting rods 17 extending into openings 18 in the side struts 12, and held in place by spring clips 19 engaging in T-shaped apertures 20 in the rods 16. The heddle supporting rods 17 support a plurality of heddles 21 having central warp eyes 22 for controlling the shed.

The foregoing structure is known but has been included to aid in understanding'the invention. In accordance with the invention, and in one preferred embodiment, the rail attachment 25 includes a unitary block or body portion which may be made of a plurality of sections 26 and 27 connected at the inner portions and with a split outer end 27a for access and assembly and held together in any desired manner at their outer portions, such as by fasteners 28. The fasteners 28 can be rivets if permanent attachment is desired or snap buttons if separability is to be retained.

The rail attachment 25 can be made of any suitable material, it being preferred to employ a synthetic plastic material having a low coefficient of friction when in rubbing contact with metal rails. Suitable materials include the plastic available under the trade name Delrin, and nylon, both of which are tough, resilient, inert and free from any tendency to soil the fabric being woven.

The rail attachment 25 has an open interior space 29 bounded by inner side faces 30 which engage the side faces 14 of the rail 11, an inner face 31 and an outer face 32. The vertical dimension of the space between the faces 31 and 32 can be varied as desired to provide the desired total height and to permit of vertical adjustment.

Connecting ribs 33 and 34 are disposed beyond the faces 30 and 31 a thickness to accommodate securing structures to be described. The rib 33 provides the integral connection between the split side sections 26 and 27.

In this embodiment of the invention a vertical pin 35 is secured to the inner face 15 of the rail 11, and the heddle rod 17 is attached to an inwardly disposed wall portion 36 extending from the rib 33 such as by rivets 37. The pin 35 engages in a vertical opening 38 in the wall rib 33.

In order to clamp the attachment in position and to permit of vertical adjustment of the attachment with respect to the rail 11 and thereby of the heddle rod 17 with respect to the rail 11, a threaded shank 40 is provided having a head 41 in engagement with the outer face 16 of the rail 11. The head 41 can be secured to the rail 11 if desired.

An internally threaded sleeve or nut 42- is provided engaging the shank 40, the sleeve 42 being provided with a plurality of circumferential ribs 43 engaging in complemental recesses 44 in the rib 34 to prevent vertical displacement under vertical stress.

The sleeve 42 has an end slot 45 which is accessible through an opening 46 for turning the sleeve to the desired position for adjustment of the heddle rod 17 with respect to the rail 11.

The outer end of the attachment 25 is preferably rounded as at 47 and further rounded as at 48.

For constructions where the side sections 26 and 27 are relatively thin walled, a leaf spring 60 may be mounted in the space between the rail face 15 and the inner face 31, freely movable with respect to the pin 35, to impart tension to the side sections 26 and 27.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. and 6 a simplified construction is shown in which the outer face 16 of the rail 11 has a nut 50 secured thereto.

The rail attachment 25a has an interior space 29a which permits movement of the attachment 25a into position for insertion of a holding screw '51 having a screwdriver slot 52 and which is accessible for tightening through an opening 53. The inner faces 30 engage the side faces 14 of the rail 11 as before and the inner face 31a is drawn up against the inner face 15 of the rail 11. The heddle rod 17 can be mounted in any desired manner such as by rivets 37.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 7 and 8 a different mounting for the heddle rod 17 is therein illustrated. In place of the single pin 35 a plurality of spaced pins 35a are provided secured to the face 15 of the rail 11 and extending into openings 38:: in the wall portion 33a. The wall portion 36a is provided with a rib 55 having a slot 56 with facing separated end tips 57 for snap-in engagement of the heddle rod 17. This construction will not permit the free end to end travel of the heddles 21 on the heddle rods as in the other embodiments of the invention but is useful for many applications.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 9, the rail attachment there shown is similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 except that it has a solid outer end and lacks the split of FIGS. 2 and 3.

While the rail attachments 25 can be mounted on contiguous frames so that they are in direct contact, where horizontal clearances available for the frames 10 are limited the attachments can be offset alternately, as shown in FIG. 4.

It will thus be seen that apparatus has been provided for attaining the objects of the invention.

1 claim:

1. The combination with a heddle frame having top and bottom rails with horizontal faces, heddle supporting rods carried in said frame, and heddles carried on said rods of a rail attachment intermediate the ends of the rails and comprising a body in surrounding relation to one of said rails, said body being of a low coefficient of friction with respect to the material of the rails and having a wall portion extending therefrom, connections between said wall portion and the heddle rod contiguous to said rail, and means preventing longitudinal movement of said body with respect to said rail, said holding means including a member exteriorly secured to one of said rail faces in non-penetrating relation to the rail. 2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said exteriorly secured member is a rigid member extending from one edge face of the rail and with which said body is in vertical sliding engagement, and said holding means also includes a threaded member extending from the opposite face of said rail. 3. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said body has a central opening permitting vertical relative movement of the attachment and the rail, said exteriorly secured member comprises a rigid member extending from one edge face of the rail with which said body is in slidable engagement, and said holding means includes an extensible member extending from the other edge face of the rail and adjustably positioning said body vertically with respect to said rail. 4. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said exteriorly secured member is a pin secured to an inner edge face of the rail, and said holding means includes a nut secured to the opposite edge face of the rail, a threaded member engaging said body and said nut. 5. The combination defined in claim 11 in which said connections include a rib with a slot in which the heddle rod is engaged. 6. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said connections include fastening members engaging the heddle rod and the wall portion. 7. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said holding means include interengaging threaded elem'ents, one of which has ribs engaged in complemental recesses in the body for preventing longitudinal axial movement thereof. 8. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said body has side wall portions, and interiorly disposed tensioning means is provided in said body for said side wall portions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,142,290 6/1915 Wagner 139-92 1,526,159 2/ 1925 Livermore 13992 3,016,925 1/1962 Graf 139-92 3,221,776 12/1965 Wagner l39--92 3,251,383 5/1966 Kaufmann 139-91 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,007,091 2/1952 France.

279,000 10/ 1914- Germany.

574,573 3/1958 Italy.

344,384- 3/ 1960 Switzerland.

JAMES KEE CHI, Primary Examiner. 

